Morning Must Reads: July 23

Former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush sit down with TIME’s Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy exclusively for this week’s cover story, exploring the dynamics of two patriarchs of American politics watching loved ones compete for their old job. They tell TIME that they are not rushing to play large roles in 2016, but that they will help when and if asked, which makes sense, since both are double-edged swords for Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush, respectively. Clinton’s dynamism on the road serves to highlight his wife’s discomfort with retail campaigning, while the elder Bush is still tainted from his time in office.

Donors who have given to multiple campaigns do it for a multitude of reasons, usually boiling down to helping their friends, raising questions about the role of money in politics when it’s no longer about supporting a candidate. Republican fire against Donald Trump is escalating, with former Texas Gov. Rick Perry calling him a cancer on the GOP and Lindsey Graham undeterred by Trump releasing his phone number to the masses. Trump will visit the U.S.-Mexico border today, where things are expected to get heated. And John Kasich and Hillary Clinton had an unlikely meeting in 1993 to discuss healthcare reform that colors today’s debate.

“I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say that I have woken up in cold sweats wondering how I’m going to deal with a Donald Trump who’s not listening.” — Fox News anchor and 2016 GOP debate moderator Bret Baier to TIME’s Michael Scherer on how he will keep time with Trump on stage

“He offers a barking carnival act that can be best described as Trumpism: a toxic mix of demagoguery, mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued. Let no one be mistaken – Donald Trump’s candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded.” — Texas Gov. Rick Perry taking his criticism of Trump to the next level